DeShazier: Sean Payton seeks more physical play from Saints

Masked by the perfume of victory in Week 1 was a pungent odor that again wafted through the Saints' locker room in Week 2.

In case you haven't noticed, New Orleans didn't stop either of its first two opponents from running the ball.

The Saints drafted help (defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis). They traded for help (linebacker Jonathan Vilma). They added free agent help (defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy) last year to go along with the help that already was available.

And still, all that has been little to no help through two games.

The Saints got away with Tampa Bay running for 146 yards on 20 carries in the season opener in a 24-20 victory at the Superdome. They weren't so fortunate on Sunday at Washington, a 29-24 loss in which the Redskins gashed New Orleans for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries -- 121 yards on 27 carries if a 27-yarder by receiver Santana Moss is subtracted, along with quarterback Jason Campbell's three carries for a yard.

Because it doesn't work that way, because it all goes on the pile, that's two opponents who have worked over the Saints for an average of 147.5 rushing yards -- and that's abysmal.

"They're a pretty good run team," defensive end Will Smith said of the Redskins. "For the most part, I thought we were pretty good against the run -- but like always, you're going to have a couple of plays here and there.

"We knew we were playing against one of the best run-block teams in the league in the Redskins, and they have a terrific back in Clinton Portis (21 carries on 96 yards with two touchdowns), so we knew what they could bring to the table. We didn't take them lightly.
"Could we have played better? Absolutely. But looking back on it, that's not the reason we lost the game."

It was one of several. But, obviously, it's an area the Saints hoped to not be deficient in this season -- certainly, not as deficient as they've been so far.

Granted, the team wasn't exactly lights out against the run last season. Opponents averaged 103 yards in 2007, a total skewed by the fact they were completing 62.4 percent of their passes for 32 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 96.9.

But being run around and through with this kind of regularity in 2008? Even winning won't dress up something that ugly, because a team that gives up that many yards on the ground isn't likely to be winning often enough to cover it.

Coach Sean Payton said his team was out-muscled against Washington. Yes, it's a humbling admission to make, but it certainly wasn't a motivational ploy. The Redskins didn't dominate time of possession (34:14-25:46) through finesse.

Washington pushed, and the Saints gave ground.

"I didn't think we were the most physical team, and that concerns me some," Payton said. "I think we can be more physical. It was really as the game wore on (that Washington's running game became more effective) and that was disappointing."

Now, the bad news: Denver, Sunday's opponent, probably is better at it than Washington.

Forget the Broncos' questionable blocking tactics, because the NFL hasn't outlawed them. What stands out is that since Coach Mike Shanahan was hired in 1995, Denver has had a 1,000-yard rusher in 11 of 13 seasons. Only twice during that span has Denver averaged less than 4.4 yards per carry, only twice has it rushed for less than 1,900 yards (1,864 in 1999 and 1,877 in 2001) and it has gotten 1,000 from Mike Anderson, Reuben Droughns, Tatum Bell and Olandis Gary.

The Broncos are averaging 143 rushing yards and 4.9 yards per carry this season.

"We've done a lot to focus on the Broncos' style of offense, because they have a unique style of offense, a unique running game," Smith said. "We focused a lot on that this offseason, in training camp. We feel well-prepared for it.

"Obviously, we have to clean up a couple of things. We can't have the same thing that happened last week, happen this week. We know going into this game it's going to be a challenge more than any other week going into the game, because they have the ability, the technique that they have, they always have 1,000-yard running backs. Their running game is the key point of their offense. That's going to be something that we need to stop in order to have a chance to be successful against them."

If they don't figure out something, it's going to smell a whole lot worse before it gets better.